Down Economy Creates Online Opportunity

IRVINE, Calif., June 1 /PRNewswire/ -- There are times to build your business
and times to cut back. According to Danielle Babb, author of The Online
Professor's Practical Guide to Starting an Internet Business (Entrepreneur
Press, $19.95), this is the time to start building, and the place is on
online.

"Today's economy offers a ripe environment to build a business. With product
and service costs very low and businesses willing to negotiate for your
business, this is the time to build out a website-based business," says Babb.
"You can get a great web developer with a lot of experience for historically
low contract prices, snap up excellent tools online at minimal costs, and
negotiate with providers that you need to make your site fantastic."

For aspiring online entrepreneurs who need more convincing, Babb offers a few
more reasons why they should get started now.

A More Mature Market
More consumers than ever are doing business online, and more people than ever
are comfortable submitting credit card information and personal information
into online sites. Integrating Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Certificates into
your site are required and will also encourage consumer confidence. These
products are also now reasonably priced and far less expensive than they were
a year ago. Hosting companies are also costing less as fewer companies make
investments in technology.

Quality Consumers
During recessionary times, people are also cutting back on travel and trips to
the store, and want products and services for less money. Online providers can
often beat brick and mortar store prices because they have less overhead.
Consumers that otherwise would have driven to a store to buy a product are
choosing to buy from online websites instead because, in the end, it saves
them time and money.

Profitable Partnerships
This is also a great time for companies offering complementary goods or
services to create advertising partnerships with online businesses. This is a
quick and easy way to build momentum online and help out other companies that
may consider themselves rivals in other markets. Now's the time for online
businesses to get creative with their business partners!

Free Marketing
Blogs and forums are a great, free marketing tool for any online startup. By
joining blogs and forums within their market, online entrepreneurs can quickly
build a name for themselves. People love free advice, and their payback will
be in the form of future purchases when times are good.

Danielle Babb is the author of The Online Professor's Practical Guide to
Starting an Internet Business, available from Entrepreneur Press. She is also
the founder of The Babb Group as well as an online entrepreneur, a professor,
an author, public speaker, and consultant.

The Online Professor's Practical Guide to Starting an InternetBusiness is
available at all major bookstores and online booksellers.

SOURCE Entrepreneur Press

Jillian McTigue of Entrepreneur Press, +1-949-622-5274,
jmctigue@entrepreneur.com